“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
~ Steve Jobs
Dear Readers,
{Image Credit: Corbis}
Today is a pretty awesome day because our team is celebrating three years since our online magazine’s creation! As the Editor-in-Chief of a flourishing hot-spot on the web, I am extremely humbled and happy knowing that we are one of your go-to spots for fresh, invigorating content. It’s an honor for not just me, but our whole team as we get to share with you how we see the world, dive into topics making a rumble in the news, and talk to individuals either making a difference in their communities or sharing their talent through various mediums. Since our inception, it has been our motto to continue to publish what we know best and grow together as an upcoming force in the ever-growing online realm.
Have I told you lately how much I love our team? Because I do. This team of writers never fails to impress me as they’ve all been fantastically maturing in their writing style since joining. By educating themselves on a variety of topics and sharing that knowledge with you in hopes to create healthy discussions, it’s incredible to watch each one of them exercise their writing muscle, while challenging themselves too. It might be known that everyone here volunteers their time in order to catapult this online magazine further into the abyss of a growing blogosphere, but it’s their pure passion that drives them. These are writers who absolutely love writing and learning about the world. They are the writers who you want writing for your publication because they know team work and time management like no one else. They respect each other and most of all, work so very hard. Hard work is what will separate the best from the greats, and no good intention and effort goes unnoticed in this life.
With all the success our little digital magazine has met since 2012, I’ve met with some comments by friends and acquaintances that we’re really “lucky.” However, I don’t believe luck alone has helped us in this journey. Luck has merely climbed aboard and shown us more success, but luck alone? Nah. From everything I have seen with this team, hard work is the driving force to every ounce of success we’ve met with. The thing about life is, if you know exactly what you want out of it, you need to be fully determined and relentless in your pursuit. Working hard for what you want is paramount and I promise you, it will drive you to where you need to be and where you should be.
That being said, sometimes things are out of our control and the more you push onto something to make it work, the farther it feels. Sometimes there isn’t a better way in life, just the hard way. But sometimes the hard way is the better way. And sometimes the hard way means accepting defeat, but defeat has great power within it. From defeat, you can see clearly and realize what needs to change about a situation in order to be at a better place with yourself. Circumstances do not make who we are, but rather, show us who we need to be to get to where we want to be. No matter what happens in life and how bad it seems today, life goes on, and it will be better tomorrow. Times like this not only call for acceptance of change, but true friendships, as these will be your greatest blessing to success.
{Image Credit: Getty Images}
The Hudsucker was built on friendship and continues to thrive on it. When I first thought of this idea for an online magazine, I didn’t think it was feasible. I had doubts about myself and what I could do. But if you have true, genuine friends who believe in you, and believe in what you can do and who you can become with it, anything is possible in this world. I will always count my blessings for true-blue friends—the ones who didn’t blink an eye, and pushed me to where I am today. Good friendships provide immense value to life and without true friends, our existence can be a pretty awful, bleak place. Words can come easy to the avid writer, but good friendships are hard to find, so today I want to thank those that helped build this magazine: our founders, Katherine, Elizabeth, Ashleigh, and Andrew; and contributors, Desi, Kathleen, Stephanie, Andrea, Paulette, and Emma.
Through my own journey in writing, I’ve realized so much about myself, the power of working with others and the strength found in your passions. It goes back to Steve Jobs’ quote at the beginning of this letter: you can only become truly accomplished in this life at something you love. If you pursue the things you love doing, you will find so much success along the way. But success doesn’t just mean wealth—it means happiness, value, fulfillment, purpose; and the most important of all—self-belief. Believing in yourself is a force to reckon with. If you truly believe you can do things, nothing can move you. Before The Hudsucker, I freelanced at various organizations and discovered through every outlet, that it’s essential in this life to not only be kind to one another, but when you learn, teach; and when you get something, give back.
Lastly, I would like to dedicate this letter to three individuals who have made such a difference in my life that I love and cherish. My sister, Nadia who has been my forever friend and always believed in me; my best friend, B, who continues to be my rock and has constantly pushed me to follow what’s true to me; and Michael Johns, who showed me the power of following through to a goal with a full heart and the forceful drive of dedication.
We hope you all have a wonderful summer and stay tuned to this spot as we’ve got plenty in store for you this season. Be present and thankful in everything you do. If you invest nothing in your passions, the reward will never be enough. Cultivate what you love, keep it close to your heart, then watch what happens.
Read. Think. Repeat…
Sincerely,
Tania Hussain
Editor-in-Chief, The Hudsucker
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Stay tuned as we have plenty in store for you in this season!
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The Hudsucker 
Way to go! So wonderful!